Month: August 2012

Mobile Learning Lesson Plans

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Background

  • Content Area: Writing
  • Title: Reasons for Writing
  • Grade Level or Target Group:  9th-12th grade

Pre-Planning

  • Big Idea(s):
    • Different pre-planning and organization methods are used based on the reasons for writing and the intended audience.
  • Essential Questions:
    • How does the style and genre we choose to write in effect the message?
    • How do different organization structures support different writing genres?
  • Objective:
    • W. 9-10.4, 11-12.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
    • W.9-10.10, 11-12.4. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
  • Summative Assessment: Students will be assigned a common topic to write on and randomly assigned a genre (narrative, informative, or persuasive) and compose an essay based on a their assigned writing purpose.

Lesson Opening

  • Students will download and explore two of the three apps below (all free) and choose one to use as a source of inspiration.

STUMBLE UPON:

Stumble Upon helps discover great sites, videos and photos from around the Web. Just identify what you’re interested in, click and start Stumbling. You’ll be surprised and amazed by what you find.

WEB ROULETTE:

Web Roulette puts a new spin on browsing the web. They hand-picked web sites in a variety of categories.  You can pick one category to focus on or spin and take your chances on any.  Students should be granted time to explore how the app works and then given additional time to choose a topic.

23,OOO GREAT QUOTES:

This site features quotes from celebrities authors, politicians, philosophers, movies, books and more.  Students can browse to find quotes that inspire research, personal reflections, or serve as a starting point for a persuasive essay.

Lesson Body

PART I. Explanation:

Essay Writing Guide arranges the elements of writing graphically around three wheels (Content, Style, and Organization).  Students can visualize how the elements of writing develop style, coherence, and meaning. Students will be able to click on any of the elements listed around the wheels and a screen appears with a detailed definition of that term, instructions for use, and several examples. Students should review this resource and keep it for a go to reference.

PART II. Check For Understanding

Students will use Edistorm (free), a social brainstorming app, to share their brainstorm with other students.  Peers will review a two other students’ work, and vote on what type of writing they believe the student is attempting in based on the brainstorm organization.  Peers will also vote to approve each notes in the brainstorm.  If they believe it supports the overall purpose and organization of the chosen style of writing, vote yes.

PART III. Extended Practice:

HIGH SCHOOL WRITING  by Niles Technology Group ($17.99)  offers step-by-step writing instructions for each type of essay required by high school students.  Students can use this app to compose their essay with a personal coach each step of the way.  This app can either be used as a reference tool, or, students who would like more support can follow each step as they are prompted.  Either way students are sure to feel confident with High School Writing app in their tool box.

Closing

Lesson Closing:

WordPress blogs are a great way for students to publish their work.  Create a class blog for your students so they can share their work when they’re done.  You can create categories under each writing genre.  Then let students post their work and categorize under the right genre so other students can easily find it and post comments.

 

Materials:

  • Itunes Account
  • WordPress Account
  • Mobile Device